Biodegradation of polyblend polypropylene plastic film with poly(ε-caprolactone) that generated using zirconium bis(β-diketonate) complex catalyst in soil waste media

Abstract Currently, polypropylene (PP) has been widely used for various purposes because of its superior properties, such as being easy to form, meltable, resistant to fat, oil, and corrosion. The uses of PP for daily purposes include containers, bottles, bottle caps, bowls, plastic bags, kitchen utensils, and casing makers. However, PP has the disadvantage of being difficult to degrade. Therefore, we must mix PP with biodegradable polymers like poly( ε -caprolactone) (PCL). The goal of this research is to create PP/PCL polyblend which can be biodegraded in soil waste media. The PCL used was obtained from the polymerization of ε -CL with a zirconium bis( β -diketonate) complex catalyst. The mixture of PP and PCL was varied using a solvent with a formulation of 10:0; and 10:4. The addition of PCL to each formulation is carried out to enhance the biodegradability properties of PP/PCL polyblend. The results of the biodegradability test showed that the PP/PCL polyblend degraded faster than pure PP in soil waste media for 60 days.